Three Halloweens
by Clea2011
Summary: Three Halloweens at the ARC, just silliness for Halloween really. Season 4/5.


**Title**: Three Halloweens  
><strong>Author<strong>: Clea2011  
><strong>Word<strong>**Count**: 4265  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Jess, Connor, Emily  
><strong>Rating:<strong>PG-13  
><strong>Challenge<strong>: Written for **primeval_denial** Halloween Challenge  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, I'm just writing for fun and non-profit.  
><strong>Warnings:<strong> None  
><strong>Spoilers<strong>: Series 5. Also this story would ruin the following two stories if you have not already read them:

Roald Dahl's _'The__Landlady'_ and WW Jacobs 1902 story _'The__Monkey's__Paw'_

They're both quite short and well worth a read. Unfortunately FFnet won't let me upload the links, but they are both available online.

**Summary:**Three Halloweens at the ARC, just silliness for Halloween really.

**Three Halloweens**

**1. Halloween 2009.**

Jess Parker loved Halloween.

It involved dressing up in fun costumes, and meant parties and chocolate and fond memories of competitions with her friends to see who could score the biggest stash of goodies from the neighbours. It meant ghost stories and scary movies, and pretending to be afraid when there was really nothing to be scared of.

Jess was just a month into her new job, and although she liked working there, she was finding the general mood of the place a little sombre. Everyone was so serious and quiet. When Halloween arrived, she thought she would try to lighten the mood a bit by decorating the Hub and bringing in a huge bowl of Halloween-themed sweets.

Lester had frowned at the frivolity of it, but that was Lester's way and she took no notice.

Matt had not so much as raised an eyebrow, but then Matt never did. He was rather reserved and tended not to speak to her much unless it was with a work request.

Becker's soldiers had eaten all of the candy while she was at lunch.

Becker himself had turned up halfway through the afternoon. He had seen the grinning skulls and pumpkins and witches and dancing skeletons and coffins, along with the almost life-sized blow-up mummy. Looking at her in disgust, he told her to take all that crap down, and stomped back out again. One of his men, checking to see if there was any chocolate left, pointed out rather belatedly that given the number of missing or deceased staff in the ARC at that time perhaps the skulls, coffins and skeletons were not the best idea. And that Egyptian mummies were really quite a bad one.

Jess very quietly took down all the decorations and threw most of them away. Her enthusiasm for Halloween waned somewhat after that.

**2. Halloween 2010.**

Connor Temple loved Halloween. As he had missed the previous year's celebrations, what with being stuck in the Cretaceous period and other inconveniences, he felt that he had a lot to make up for.

He particularly liked it when he could find someone who reacted well to pranks, and in new colleague Jess Parker he thought he had found the perfect patsy. After all, she was a fellow computer geek and was bound to see the funny side, unlike Abby who never seemed to find his Halloween tricks even mildly amusing. Plus she would definitely shriek if he made her jump, again unlike Abby who had, on occasion, been known to hit him. Hard.

Knowing Jess's fondness for fun, he was surprised to walk into the ARC and not find it decorated with spiders and witches and pumpkins. He supposed that Lester had probably banned it, and that the reason Jess was sitting at the ADD looking so glum that morning was the complete lack of Halloween spirit around her.

He would soon put that right.

Connor started off by getting Sid out of the menagerie, dressing him in a ghost outfit (well, a sheet with a few holes for his legs anyway) and letting him run into the kitchen just as Jess was making herself an early morning cup of coffee.

There was a shriek, the sound of breaking china, another loud yell, and then Sid was running back to Connor as fast as his little legs could carry him, a final ear-splitting scream following him out.

It was not a particularly good ghost outfit, and now that Connor thought about it Jess was not overly keen on the creatures. Becker and Matt were running towards the kitchen with their EMDs drawn, looking as though they wanted to shoot something. Connor grabbed Sid, and hurried him back to the menagerie before anyone noticed.

To Connor's mind, Jess still looked very sad at missing out on all the Halloween fun. He liked the colourful little Field Co-ordinator who had kindly allowed Abby and himself to stay in her spare room, and was trying her best to ease their return to civilisation. The least he could do in return would be to brighten her day a little.

So, Connor brightened Jess's day.

First, he left a fake mummy hand hanging over the top of the hub, and put a little theatrical blood on it for good measure. Jess just stared at it for a moment, then picked it up and put it in the nearest bin.

His second attempt at brightening her day was by leaving a pop-up witch in her locker. Connor knew she enjoyed that because after the initial squeal of shock Jess took it out and hung it on Becker's locker. Obviously she really did want to have Halloween decorations around the place as long as they were jolly ones. He wondered if she would be up for throwing a last-minute party back at the flat.

Next, he left a chocolate pumpkin on her desk. It would, he knew, cheer her up and make up for the Sid incident. Jess loved chocolate. She was the skinniest chocoholic he had ever met in his life. The pumpkin had a big smiley face right in the middle of its bright orange-coloured chocolate covering, and even came in a little gift bag. It was perfect. It was a shame that she must have been on a diet that day, because she walked across to where Becker was working and told him to eat it. Being a typical man in that he never turned down the opportunity of free food, he was quite happy to do that. Connor had, with Abby's help, noticed that Jess appeared to have something of a crush on Becker, and he was a little puzzled as to why she didn't look pleased that he had accepted her gift. But then, women were rather strange, even computer geeks who loved anime.

Connor suggested the Halloween party to Jess, but was told that she was far too busy. She did not look particularly busy, E-Bay was open on one of her consoles and she appeared to be at the business end of a bidding war for some dangerously high bright pink shoes.

Finally, Connor pulled his pièce de résistance. Jess had volunteered for the evening shift, presumably because she had no Halloween party to go to, and was going to be almost alone in the ARC. He rigged up a projector, then waited until Jess was sitting alone at the ADD and shut down most of the lights.

Jess looked around, could not see Connor hiding behind one of the cupboards, shrugged and went back to what she was doing - which was probably chasing another e-bay bargain. Connor grinned, very pleased with himself. He knew she was just going to love this, he had taken a lot of trouble with the recording. Especially for Jess, he had taken a small selection of clips from anime featuring cute little ghost girl characters and then edited the footage so that when projected the cartoon figures would float around realistically.

Connor switched on the projector, and could not help giving a small snort of laughter at his own cleverness. Unfortunately Jess heard him and spun round in her chair, peering into the dark corners of the hub. When she turned back, and saw a huge glowing figure hovering in the gloomy area just beyond the ADD, the scream she let out was probably heard right across London.

It was certainly heard right across the ARC. Becker and Abby came rushing in, almost colliding with Jess who was almost hysterical and gabbling something about having already apologised for last year and that this was just mean. In fact, as Connor listened further, and watched Abby trying to calm Jess down, he realised that Jess seemed to think that Becker was responsible for all of Connor's brilliant pranks, and that he had done it out of some kind of revenge for something she had done the previous year. Connor felt a little insulted, as he was sure there was no way Action Man had that level of imagination. Or technical wizardry. But Becker did look quite annoyed, and was carrying a big gun.

Connor switched off the projector very quickly. As quietly as he could, he crept towards the opposite exit. Unfortunately he found it blocked by a tall, dark figure in a very bad mood, who was scarier than any Halloween monster...

**3. Halloween 2011.**

Jess Parker hated Halloween.

Connor Temple was still too distraught from nearly ending the world to care, but if he thought about it he would have agreed with Jess.

Lady Emily Merchant, however, was fascinated by all the new customs and traditions that the world she had arrived in contained. She was desperate to learn more about them but so far she had not found anyone willing to teach her.

Matt had not grown up with Halloween, having his own private horror story to deal with. He waved it off as being some American thing that celebrated witches and ghosts, then changed the subject.

Abby rolled her eyes when she was asked, and just told her to speak to Connor.

Connor had looked slightly hunted, and asked if Becker had sent her. Then he claimed that he hated Halloween and had never really taken part in it, and it was a stupid tradition anyway, and was that the time? He had to go.

Lester had looked at her contemptuously and told her to "Google it," which she assumed was some kind of insult that she would have to ask Matt about later. Lester was apparently quite rich and important, but he never struck Emily as much of a gentleman.

Becker had just narrowed his eyes at her until she went away. Emily was not intimidated by him, but eventually she got bored with the standoff. There was a limit to how long you could stand there glaring at someone. She tried out the new insult that Lester had just taught her, and was pleased to note that it did leave him looking surprised.

Jess just looked downcast and said that Halloween was a horrible thing that should be banned.

Emily was none the wiser.

Eventually one of the lab technicians explained the celebration to her. Emily was fascinated, she loved ghost stories as they had been very popular in her time. There was nothing she had enjoyed more as a girl than sitting around a fire on a winter's evening with her family, listening to her father read. Elisabeth Gaskell and Sheridan Le Fanu had been particular favourites, and of course everyone loved Dickens.

"We will be celebrating Halloween," she told Matt.

Matt knew far better than to argue, but pointed out that as half the team lived at Jess's flat then that would probably be a better venue than their place. Also that would mean he would not have to clear up afterwards. However, as he now lived with a woman who had been brought up to believe it was her duty to be a good housekeeper and had not quite managed to lose that belief yet, he had not had to clean his own flat for months. But he knew it was only a matter of time before Emily was totally ruined by the 21st century. Matt was not looking forward to that day.

Jess took quite a lot of persuading, but eventually she agreed to host a small gathering where Emily would sit and read them ghost stories in front of the electric fire. It was not quite the same, and the invitation to attend was not met with the enthusiasm Emily felt it deserved.

Matt agreed, just glad that it was not his flat getting used.

Abby said that she was working late, but would try not to miss all the fun. Emily was not quite sure that Abby was being entirely sincere, she had noticed that in this century people would say one thing and mean quite another. It was very confusing.

Becker agreed reluctantly, on the understanding that there would be food and alcohol and that he would not, under any circumstances, have to do any reading.

Connor shrugged and said that he would be there anyway, but that if Jess looked even slightly scared then he was going to his room.

Lester, who to be fair had not actually been invited, made disparaging comments about people with too much time on their hands, and that he had far better things to do than listen to stories by a bunch of long-dead writers. She decided that what he probably meant was that yes, it was perfectly all right with him if she wanted to leave early that afternoon.

Emily found her way to a large bookstore, which had more books in it than she had ever seen in her life. Luckily she was assisted by a man with a very white face and very black hair, and many pieces of metal sticking out uncomfortably from various places on his face. He was not the fairground attraction she initially supposed but in fact a very learned shopkeeper who helped her choose a large number of suitable books with gruesome images plastered across the cover. He even found later works by her favourite authors, and seemed very impressed by her extensive knowledge of early Victorian literature. Apparently these were now classics, and her idea of holding a Halloween reading evening was wicked. That would, she thought, explain why nobody seemed keen.

When Jess eventually finished work, Emily helped her buy in some food for the evening. The food consisted of pizzas and beer, which Emily had discovered were 21st century staples, but she noticed Jess looking a little wistfully at the bags of Halloween treats in the supermarket. When Emily told her that if those were traditional food then they should buy some, she was sure that just for a moment Jess looked quite excited, but then the moment was gone and the younger woman just shrugged. It was very unlike Jess.

Emily was not very impressed with the twenty-first century method of story-telling. For one thing, the electric fire did not have the same rich and homely smell of a real fire, and gathering around it did not have the same effect, not even when Jess switched on the artificial flames. It was not helped at all by the bright electric lights overhead either. Candlelight had always been so much more atmospheric. The lack of a smell of burning firewood was made that little bit less bearable by the very modern smell of warm pizza, although Emily did find that she was alone in that particular opinion. The thin, warm, flat bread with its supposedly delicious topping did appear to be very popular, every fresh plateful that Jess brought out vanished within minutes.

Then there was Connor, who insisted on doing the first reading. Connor obviously thought he was being very dramatic, and that adding in distinct voices for all the characters in every piece of dialogue was going to make it even more dramatic. Unfortunately, Connor's natural voice did not really lend itself to such a reading, and he kept forgetting which character had been given which accent. It made it impossible for anyone to get into the story. When he finished, he made the fatal mistake of asking people what they thought of his reading. Becker paused in his beer drinking, and told him exactly what he thought of it. Connor did not volunteer to read any more.

Emily made a few improvements before she read the next story. She told Jess to find some candles, then dotted them around the lounge area and lit them before turning the main lights out. Becker complained that he could not see his way over to the kitchen now to get more beer, but Emily ignored him. Jess brought him a few more bottles, then settled herself between him and Connor with the bowl of treats on her lap, preparing to listen to Emily.

Story-telling had been a major art in Emily's time, and one she had particularly enjoyed. The pierced scholar from the bookshop had given her a few recommendations. He was particularly shocked that she had never heard of Roald Dahl, and insisted that she read some of the _'Tales__of__the__Unexpected'_. She had devoured several of the short stories whilst waiting for Jess to finish work, and had already chosen the one she wanted to read. _'The__Landlady'_ was not an overly scary story, but the reveal unfolded slowly and when read well it was quite creepy. Emily was a skilled story-teller, and held all their attention. The fact that it featured a murdered character called Mr Temple helped as well.

"Enjoying your beer, Connor?" Matt asked. "Doesn't taste of almonds or anything?"

Connor tried to ignore him, but sniffed at the bottle and decided not to drink any more from that one. He had a suspicion that someone had slipped in some almond essence or something as a joke as it smelled a little strange.

Matt, Jess and Connor all applauded Emily at the end of her reading. Becker asked if they could put a horror movie on now, preferably something like '_Dog__Soldiers'_, or '_28__Days__Later'_. Anything, really, that featured lots of shooting. Emily told him that the point of the evening was that they did readings, and he was welcome to take his turn. Becker opened another bottle of beer. Matt announced that he was going to read the next story. Becker decided that there was probably not enough beer to deal with this and went to the off-licence on the corner to replenish supplies, cheering himself up by growling at a bunch of treat or treaters outside who looked as though they were about to try Jess's flat. The last thing he wanted was for the idiots upstairs to get any more stupid Halloween ideas.

Enthused by the fact that almost all of the group were having a good evening, Jess had produced what was left of the decorations that she had stored away after the 2009 failure. Connor set up his projector with the little ghost girl images that he had made for Jess the previous year. This time she was not startled by them and loved as much as he had expected her to.

Becker walked back up the stairs into a very cute version of Halloween hell, and was unable to suppress a groan of despair. It seemed very unfair to him that Abby was not suffering too. Apparently she had just rung Connor to say that she was going to be another hour or so. Becker pushed aside the grinning pumpkin that had been placed on his end of the sofa, and settled himself back down. He hoped that this one would be so boring that he could fall asleep.

The chances were high. Matt had gone for quite an old classic, WW Jacobs'_The__Monkey's__Paw'_ (although to Emily it was brand new, coming as it did from the early 1900s). Becker made one last plea for a movie instead when Matt trotted off to the bathroom, was met with Emily's best Paddington stare, which was all the more effective given that she had no idea who Paddington was, and gave up. Connor had paused the projection, and Becker found he had a smiling ghost girl frozen in mid-air across the room from him.

Emily settled herself on Matt's lap. Becker rolled his eyes and took another swig of beer. Jess looked at him hopefully, saw his grumpy expression, and shuffled up to Connor instead, offering the bowl of treats.

Matt started to read the story. The language was a little dated, (though not to Emily), and Matt's Irish lilt added a certain atmosphere to the reading that most of the audience appreciated. He took them through the tale of an old couple who acquired the said paw. It was supposed to have mystical properties and could grant them three wishes, but at a price.

"Didn't work very well for the monkey," Becker commented. Emily shushed him.

Matt carried on with the story. The couple wished for money. It came through as compensation for the gruesome death of their son in an accident. Weeks later the distraught mother wished the son back to life, despite the fact he had been maimed beyond recognition and buried in his grave for some time. Nothing happened at first. The cemetery was two miles away, a lengthy walk for a mangled corpse. Thinking nothing would happen, the old man went downstairs to get another candle. Matt continued:

_"At the foot of the stairs the match went out, and he paused to strike another, and at the same moment a knock, so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible, sounded on the front door." _

There was a knock at the front door of Jess's flat, made louder by the way it echoed up the stairs. Everyone froze. Matt paused, then carried on reading.

_"The matches fell from his hand. He stood motionless, his breath suspended until the knock was repeated." _

There was a second knock, slightly louder than the first. Jess and Connor looked at one another nervously.

_"Then he turned and fled swiftly back to his room, and closed the door behind him. A third knock sounded through the house." _

Jess gave a little whimper of distress as the third knock sounded on the front door. So did Connor.

Matt kept on reading, his face a mask of concentration. Even when he read about a fourth knock, and it echoed from the doorway, he ignored it and kept going. "_"For__God's__sake,__don't__let__it__in,"__cried__the__old__man,__trembling."_

"Maybe we should stop reading..." Connor suggested, but Emily shushed him, enthralled by the story which was only enhanced by being read in Matt's lilting Irish accent.

_"There was another knock, and another. The old woman with a sudden wrench broke free and ran from the room."_

Emily clapped her hands together delightedly as the knocking from outside continued. "That is very clever! Is it a recorded sound?"

Connor shook his head.

"Should we not answer the door?"

Jess shook her head. She was clinging onto Connor's arm.

_"But her husband was on his hands and knees groping wildly on the floor in search of the paw. If he could only find it before the thing outside got in. A perfect fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house..."_

Jess screamed as a barrage of knocks sounded, and the bowl of treats fell onto the floor, its contents spilling everywhere.

"You're security, you should be the one to go and check" Connor pointed out to Becker, who did not look overly enthusiastic at the prospect.

"I'm off duty!"

_"He__heard__the__creaking__of__the__bolt__as__it__came__slowly__back,"_ Matt carried on.

There was a noise from the hallway. It sounded as though the door was being opened, very, very slowly. It was quite an old door. It creaked.

"Oh my God!" Jess shrieked. She looked at Becker: "Make it go away!"

Becker very reluctantly got up and picked up the EMD that he always had with him, just in case. It looked like a big gun even if it was really just a taser. He wished now that he had not had quite so much beer. He also wished that he had gone with his initial instincts and stayed home. He particularly wished that he had not started listening to Matt and his scary story. Becker could have done with a monkey paw of his own to grant those wishes.

The door continued to open, creaking ominously as it did so. Becker raised the EMD and leaned over the top of the balcony.

And Abby came trotting up the stairs, grinning at them all. "Hi! Did I miss anything?"

Matt shook his head, laughing. "Nope, you hit the lot, perfect timing!"

"You read very well," Emily approved, gazing adoringly at Matt. "But how did Abby know when to knock?"

Matt pulled his black box out of his pocket. Abby tapped her earpiece.

"That was excellent!" exclaimed Connor, who had recovered from his fright and always appreciated a good prank.

"That was fun," Jess admitted. "But I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight."

"That was bloody stupid," Becker grumbled. "I knew it was Abby all along."

"Really? Why wouldn't you answer the door then?" Matt wanted to know.

"Didn't want to spoil your lame joke."

"You were going pale," Emily observed.

"Thought you were going to scream louder than Jess when Abby opened the door!" Matt added.

Becker glared at him. "I could've shot her!"

"I took the charge out of your gun when you went for more beer," Matt reached down the side of his chair, pulled out the charge and tossed it back to Becker who only just managed to catch it. "Swapped it for an empty one."

"I..." Becker had run out of things to complain about. "I knew it was Abby," he repeated.

Becker stomped back to the sofa and sat back down with his beer. Emily handed Matt another story to read, not interested in listening to anyone else. Jess went over to the kitchen to cook another of the pizzas. Connor curled up with Abby on the sofa after switching the projector back on so that the anime ghosts were bobbing around Jess while she worked.

Jess smiled. She loved Halloween.


End file.
